Solomonaros's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ricochet Heroes]

A tightly packaged and fun game. It has a unique principal that is well executed. The controls are simple and easy to use (even though the mouse was needed, it wasn't hard to use on my trackpad). Given the simplicity of the controls, there's an inescapable feeling that this might be better suited as a mobile game, but that doesn't really take away from the game itself.

Weighing in at four stages in length, it's short. It feels like this is the prototype of an experimental system. To be perfectly honest, I think that the artist should run with it and go on to make a sequel - maybe with a shop mechanic or something to add depth to the game, though this isn't necessary.

TLDR; A short, interesting take on a well established formula. If you have ten minutes, give it a play! 5/5

[Hidden Valley Ninja]

I thought when I started this game that it would be a five minute platformer due to the controls and the appearance of the opening animation. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the controls were implemented and the depth of the upgrades, secret areas, and humor. Sadly, as much as I liked this game, there were some downsides that I think could be overcome in another production, if you're so inspired to create on.

To begin with, there wasn't much of a plot. This isn't necessarily a killing point since some of my favorite games lack any story at all. Secondly, the speed of the respawn made me think that the difficulty would be much higher. While the environmental deaths happened quite often for me, I found them to be an annoyance rather than a hurdle as they didn't respawn the enemies when I died nor did it reduce my health. This made the Bossfights with environmental kills (such as the murderous mountain) a little confusing. I could be killed many times by the spinning blades, but unless I got hit by the mountain I wouldn't actually lose any health. Nor would the environmental deaths it re-fill the health of the boss... Maybe you overlooked this?

There's a lot of distractions for me right now, so i can't make a better review, so I'll wrap this up. In short, I liked that game, but it could have been a little more difficult without affecting the entertainment in a negative way.

[Beat Chaser 2]

I need help.

Not with the game, the game is amazing. I need help to STOP playing this game. This marvelous piece of Bullet Hell goodness has infected my life with hours of fun and frustration. The worst part is that I'm only doing it to myself. The fact that you can use your own MP3s in the game allows people who think that the pre-packaged music is lame or too easy to upload their own musical pieces. It's a simple concept executed marvelously in this game that is more parts gadget than game.

What few complaints that I have about it (overly-simple animations, lack of control options) are overshadowed completely by the sheer excellence of execution. The different game modes allow people who aren't good at bullet hell games to watch their music in action, watching the patterns it produces in Flower Viewing mode. Those who think that they're something to write home about can try their skill in the challenge mode and put their scores on the board.

I have little more to say because there isn't much else to it. And that's the remarkable thing, it's minimalistic in actual parts when you think about it, but it breaks new ground (no pun intended) with its versatility and re-play value. Highest marks for this game.

And don't worry about sending me help for this addiction. Just send more games like this. You have a gift for Rhythm Games : D

[Brain Tumors]

This review might be a little biased due to my fail track pad, but I'll try to be as impartial as possible.

The frame rate is really smooth, and things don't lag even when there are multiple objects on screen at the same time. This means that the layers and events are well optimized. There really needs to be more producers who keep this in mind. The gallery section is also interesting and makes me wonder if this was made as some kind of school project for biology.

However, it feels like there isn't a lot of time between targets to line up for the next shot. The game also isn't very forgiving about missing one. A missed cell and it's game over and you have to start again. The difficulty curve starts off very high. I'm personally a fan of difficult games, but this is a bit extreme even for my tastes to a point where I think this may have been unintentional. Again, this could all be because of my less than functional mouse pad.

Overall Score: 3.5/5 stars and 4/5 rating (I usually round up in the rating system)

[DN8]

Solomon has come to judge your game!

Alright, in all seriousness, and speaking as a completely unbiased critic, the gameplay is your standard bullethell. Simple graphics on the baddies add a retro feel and keep them from dragging down the processor so that crazy amounts of junk can be flying in every which direction. The visuals are nice, but not jaw dropping - and I wouldn't want the graphics too high as the speed of things would slow my toaster of a computer down to a crawl... but we don't come to bullet hell shooters for the graphics do we?

No, the meat of the game, the raw, satisfying nougat center of the insanity is always the game play. You can't go wrong with the basic formula, there's enemies flying around in patterns, shooting bullets in patterns, and your job is to shoot them all before being turned into metallic Swiss cheese. The rub is that you have to dodge just right, learn your hit box, and still supply enough bullet of your own to take them down. In essence, you have all the elements of a fun, addictive danmaku. Here's the rub, though.

The game... well... is too easy. You don't make it so that people have to learn the hit box, you announce it with a red dot. The side pods block bullets, giving you a sense of cover, something I don't want in my bullet hell. The best part is that deep awesome feeling you get for dancing between bullets like a Gunkata master and then putting on your shaddes and walking away from the explosion as you blow up the final boss (usually after much blood, sweat, and tears). I didn't have that feeling. I was just like... meh.

Another thing, you took one of the basic mechanics of a good bullet hell, narrow dodging, and made it kind of a challenge. You encourage flying close to the bullets just to give you some extra lives instead of saying "Hey, here's the bullets. Dodge or die." There was plenty of space for me to dodge, making the sense of cramped, narrow dodging seem like an optional thing. The only parts I felt the danger was the boss battles.

Oh yes, your bosses. I was actually quite happy with them. The patterns were call backs to a lot of great mid-bosses I laid to rest in Touhou and Gradius... there were only a few things wrong, I feel. First off, they all felt like midbosses. I didn't get a feeling I was fighting any major baddies. Sure, they took a few hits, but the patterns were easy to learn and dodge. The ones that shot lines of bullets were a little interesting since they ndid one-hit kills if you messed up, but if you dodged just right, you got an EXTRA life from the graze meter maxing out. I ended the game with 30 lives just from those guys alone. I loved the boss rush at the end - which was a sweet call back on your part - but I really was hoping for a big bad boss at the end.

All in all, fun. I sat through till the end, but it felt short, and was way to easy to be up in the ranks of greatness with Touhou and the like. I give it a 4/5 despite all my criticisms. It's not a BAD game, it could just be better.

I look forward to your future submissions.

Squize responds:

Cheers mate, great review.

The game was always meant to be a "Casual" bullet hell, hence using the mouse for control. I wanted people who would never usually play one to have fun without having to learn a million bullet patterns and getting everything pixel perfect.
Proper bullet hell shooters are really niche, and we wanted to avoid that, we want people to complete our games. If someone gives this a go and likes it then moves on to proper bullet hell, then from my point of view that's perfect.

[8bit Retro: Manic Miner]

Old school?

Funny, I don't recall my Atari 2600 making my ears bleed...